EasyJet Chairman Rake to Leave After Stelios Trims Airline Stake

Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- EasyJet Plc Chairman Mike Rake said
he plans to step down in the middle of 2013, a year after
founder and No. 1 investor Stelios Haji Ioannou questioned his
ability to oversee the company.

Rake will hold his position as chairman and non-executive
director until a replacement is found, Luton, England-based
EasyJet said in a Jan. 26 statement. The board is reviewing
internal and external candidates, according to the airline.

“It is the right time for me to stand down,” Rake said in
the statement. Chief Executive Officer “Carolyn McCall and her
management team have developed and implemented the right
strategy for the airline which is already bearing fruit,” the
65-year-old executive said.

Rake was appointed chairman of Europe’s No. 2 discount
carrier in January 2010 and also holds board positions at BT
Group Plc and Barclays Plc. The connection with Barclays, which
was fined 290 million pounds ($456 million) for rigging the
benchmark London interbank offered rate, drove Stelios to demand
Rake’s resignation in August last year, arguing that his failure
to halt or expose the practice called into question his ability
to hold top posts. Other shareholders rejected the motion.

Stelios has continued to criticize the airline, cutting his
family’s holding last week -- to just under 37 percent -- for
the first time since 2004 and threatened to sell more shares if
EasyJet pursues plans to buy new airplanes. The entrepreneur has
said he wants management to target a 10 percent profit margin
and boost dividend payouts to 50 percent, up from one-third.

Rake “has overseen a more than doubling in the value of
the company,” Deputy Chairman Charles Gurassa said in the
statement. During his tenure, he oversaw the appointment of
McCall as CEO and the introduction of dividend payments.

EasyJet fell as much as 3.5 percent, the biggest drop since
June 1, 2012. The stock was down 1.5 percent to 930.50 pence at
9:31 a.m. in London.